Headaches and Traditional Acupuncture

Acupuncture has been on the BBC news again today as doctors admit that taking painkillers for persistent headaches may be doing more harm than good.
Doctors now believe that the painkillers are so over prescribed that they indeed may be the cause of the headaches.

The BBC news continued to say that according to a NICE report Traditional Acupuncture may be MORE effective at treating persistent tension type headaches and there are no serious side effects to the treatment.

Adverts showing busy people pill popping for headaches, but those painkillers may well be causing the headache in the first place!

Traditional Acupuncture understands that headaches are the bodies way of telling us something is wrong.

Each of us is unique so acupuncture uses different treatment for each person depending on the exact details of the headache. Lots of questions will be asked regarding the details of the headache
Where on the head is it, front or back, one sided or both?
Is it asharp or dull pain?
Is it worse am or pm?
Worse for rest or exercise?
Worse for eating or fasting?
Stress related or exhaustion?

Each detail tells your practitioner information. There are over 200 documented types of different headaches in Traditional Acupuncture and a detailed diagnosis will lead your practitioner to the correct treatment plan.

Even as a young person I wondered why friends kept taking painkillers for headaches and I would ask them ‘why not try to find out what caused the headache instead of trying to just blot it out.’

If a warning light comes on in your car you wouldn’t cover it over with a plaster would you?

If you have a symptom there is a reason. If a symptom keeps reoccurring then it needs attention, your body is speaking to you, it wants to be heard and understood, it will not go away until the cause is addressed.

Also new recommendation from NICE: Acupuncture PROVEN to treat tension-type headaches and migraine